Winner Joshua Mhoon with Music Director Cristian Măcelaru, who was also an adjudicator. Photos by Phil Armstrong, with thanks to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
To play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, you need to possess a spectacular technique, expressive power and, not least, endurance. Pianist Joshua Mhoon had all those and more.
Mhoon, 22, won first prize in the Nina Simone Piano Competition, held on Wed. Oct. 7 in Music Hall. Three finalists — Evan Hines, John Paul McGee and Mhoon — competed in the Solo Round followed by the Concerto Round in the competition. Music Director Cristian Măcelaru conducted the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for the Concerto Round, during which the young artists each performed a complete piano concerto.
Mhoon was awarded the $12,000 first prize, as well as a recital at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music presented by Opus 3. Second prize ($4,000) went to Evan Hines. John Paul McGee won third and $2,000. A small audience of symphony fans and piano aficionados was on hand, and gave warm responses to each artist.
The finalists of the Nina Simone Piano Competition: Joshua Mhoon, music director Cristian Măcelaru, Evan Hines and John Paul McGee
The previous rounds of the Artist Division were held at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, said Awadagin Pratt, who is currently professor of piano on its faculty after serving on the piano faculty at CCM for two decades. Pratt is founder of the Art of the Piano Foundation, which hosts the biennial Nina Simone Piano Competition to spotlight talented young African American classical pianists. He is a Yamaha Artist, and the competition was using a Yamaha concert grand piano.
The judges were Pierre Van Der Westhuizen, executive and artistic director of the prestigious Gilmore Piano Festival (and a CCM alumnus); Mikael Darmanie, also a CCM grad, who is busy classical performer, composer and conductor with an eclectic career as a DJ and member of the Warp Trio. Măcelaru served as the third judge.Read More »
L to R: Ariel Quartet members violinists Gershon Gerchikov, Alexandra “Sasha” Kazovsky and violist Jan Grüning; pianist Liza Stepanova and Ariel Quartet cellist Amit Even-Tov
It’s hard to believe that the Ariel Quartet has been quartet-in-residence at CCM for 15 years. Lest we ever take this astonishing young ensemble for granted, it’s important to know that their annual concert performances are as fresh, invigorating and insightful as they were when they’d just arrived.
The Ariels – violinists Alexandra “Sasha” Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov, violist Jan Grüning and cellist Amit Even-Tov – came together as teenagers in 1998, and three are original members. Lately, their big project has been to record the entire cycle of Beethoven String Quartets. Vol. III is expected out any day on CD and on streaming platforms. Read more about that here.
Their program, titled “Blueprints,” included Haydn’s String Quartet in C major, Op. 33, No. 3 (“The Bird”) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw’s “Blueprint” in the first half. (The Ariel will reprise these two works on Dec. 8 at Carnegie Hall.)
The small Werner Recital Hall at CCM was jam-packed with faculty members, students, patrons and loyal fans of the quartet. They opened with Haydn’s Quartet Op. 33, No. 3, subtitled “The Bird” – either for its chirping opening theme or the trilling duet of the violins in the second movement. Read More »
Molly Norcross is the new principal horn of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Just when you thought you knew most of the new musicians in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra under the direction of Music Director Cristian Măcelaru has announced nine more new hires. They’ve also announced the appointment of Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra’s (CSYO) new Concert Orchestra Conductor, and two conducting contract extensions for the 2026–27 season.
The musicians won positions following extensive auditions from a national applicant pool.
The new players are: Molly Norcross, Principal Horn; Mark Debski, Associate Principal Oboe; Drew Morgan, Associate Principal Horn; Ania Lewis, Assistant Principal Cello; Jessica Kovach, Section Bass; and Alex Pride, Section Trumpet. One-year appointments include Celia Daggy, Acting Associate Principal Viola and Micah Reinharz, Acting Associate Principal Trumpet.
Also joining the Orchestra this year is cellist Osheen Manukyan as the CSO’s inaugural CSO Resident Fellow. Leading the Cincinnati Symphony
Youth Orchestra Concert Orchestra is Lina Jeong, who is currently orchestra director at Xavier University.
In addition, the CSO announced a one-year contract extension with CSO Assistant Conductor Duo Shen, and Assistant Conductor Alex Amsel has been promoted to Associate Conductor with a one-year contract extension.
The Fall concert season is fast approaching. One of the first concerts that caught my eye was CCM composer Mara Helmuth’s Faculty Artist Recital titled: SPARKLING STREAMS: Music for Instruments and Computer.
The concert is 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1 in Cohen Family Studio Theater at CCM.
Mara is a pioneer of computer music in Cincinnati, the director of CCM’s Center for Computer Music and a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow. When I was an undergrad at Stanford University, I’d sometimes catch a concert by John Chowning, who set up the first research center for computer-based technology as a means for artistic expression.
Technology has traveled light years since then. You don’t have to be a computer geek to enjoy the sounds that will be created in this concert of multichannel and multimedia works by Helmuth and collaborators.
You will hear two world premieres, multimedia and several environmentally-themed works: “Burren Wind” for tárogató (also known as Turkish pipe); video and 8-channel computer music; “All Alarms Sounding” for piano and electronics; “Night Shimmer” for vibraphone and electronics; “Water Birds” for clarinet and computer music; “Messages from a Hot Rotating Star” (live pulsar data sonification and visuals), and “Wind Blown Rain” for tárogató, video and computer music.
Guest artists are Patti Cudd, percussion; and Esther Lamneck, tarogato; and alumni artists Shiau-uen Ding, piano and Andrea Vos-Rochefort, clarinet.
Estimated run time: 90 minutes
Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater. CCM
Admission: FREE
Carmen (J’Nai Bridges) joins Escamillo (Ryan McKinny) in his celebration. Photos by Philip Groshong for Cincinnati Opera
Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” is possibly the most popular opera ever written. Besides its dramatic story, you are left humming its gorgeous, unforgettable tunes days later. Cincinnati Opera has mounted productions of “Carmen” since it’s second season,1921, in Cincinnati Zoo Pavilion.
On July 25 in Music Hall, I saw the 179th performance of “Carmen,” opening night of the final opera of its mainstage season, with a fine cast and an engagingly updated co-production. Although the performance was sometimes uneven, there were many standout moments. For me, the highlight was Bizet’s musical score, given a spirited reading by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the opera pit under the baton of Spanish conductor Ramón Tebar.
Tebar led the orchestra briskly through the Prelude’s bright opening themes. When the music arrived at the “Fate” theme, the lights dimmed theatrically (Thomas C. Hase). The curtain rose on 1950s Havana, where the cigarette girls had to be unlocked from cage-like doors in order to take their factory break, perhaps a nod to Havana just before Fidel Castro came to power. The set designs by Gary McCann, who also designed the wonderful midcentury costumes, were charmingly evocative of old Havana. The heat was almost palpable in the saturated red lighting that simmered in the background against a painterly blue sky. The smuggler’s mountaintop hideout was a gloomy, abandoned warehouse with looming windows and a large doorway, through which the smugglers loaded their loot.
The title character, Carmen, performed by mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, is a free-spirited femme fatale who seduces Don José and then dumps him for the toreador, Escamillo. In 2021, Bridges provided a glimpse of her gifts in an abridged “Carmen” with Cincinnati Opera. It was performed outdoors at Summit Park in Blue Ash, amplified and with Covid protocols in place.
A desperate Don José (Matthew White) confronts Carmen (J’Nai Bridges).
In this production, originally staged by Paul Curran and locally directed by Anderson Nunnelly, Carmen was more defiant than flirty or sensual. Bridges’ rich mezzo-soprano was pleasing in the upper register, although her lower phrases did not project well in the “Habanera.” Her Carmen had an edge – the director brought the factory spat vividly outdoors, as Carmen slapped a woman and yanked her hair. It was clear that men were putty in her hands as she tore off her apron down to a red dress for her sizzling “Seguidilla.”Read More »
Cincinnati Opera will mount Puccini’s “Turandot” for the first time since 2015. Production photos of Palm Beach Opera Turandot, January 24, 2020. Bruce Bennett – Palm Beach Opera
Cincinnati Opera’s 2027 Summer Festival will open with the world premiere “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” chronicling the life of the U.S. Congressman and Civil Rights icon. The season will include a lavish production of Puccini’s “Turandot,” not seen in Music Hall since 2015. And Mozart’s irresistible comedy “The Marriage of Figaro” will round out the mainstage season.
As we have come to enjoy in recent years, there will be several single-night musical events. In celebration of a new, $6 million gift from the Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation,“Viva Verdi!” will feature some of Verdi’s best-loved operatic music in a Music Hall concert in Springer Auditorium (7:30 p.m. June 25, 2027). And the popular Studio Sessions of intimate musical evenings curated by the performing artists will continue in two performances in Wilks Studio, July 1 and July 14, both at 8 p.m. in Wilks Studio at Music Hall. More details on those events will be unveiled later.
Performances will run from June 18 through August 1, 2027.
Artistic director Evans Mirageas announced details of the 2027 on July 25 to the Music Hall audience assembled for opening night of Bizet’s “Carmen.”
Said Mirageas in a statement: “During our 2026 season, it was thrilling to see how enthusiastically audiences responded to The Black Opera Project’s first work, Lalovavi,’ an encouraging sign that this endeavor has arrived at just the right time. We continue that momentum next summer by shining a light on an inspiring American icon with the world premiere of ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble.’ Combined with the epic emotions of ‘Turandot,’ the witty charm of ‘The Marriage of Figaro,’ the celebratory spirit of ‘Viva Verdi!,’ and the artist-curated Studio Sessions, we look forward to creating memorable experiences that connect and uplift our community.”
Jochanaan (Alfred Walker) is repulsed by Salome’s (Kathryn Lewek) infatuation. Tenor Zach Borichevsky, left, performed the role of Narraboth, captain of the guard. Photos by Philip Groshong are provided by Cincinnati Opera
For his opera about the depraved princess Salome who performs the “Dance of the Seven Veils” for Herod in return for the head of John the Baptist on a platter, Richard Strauss wanted “a 16-year-old princess with the voice of an Isolde.”
In her role debut as Salome at Cincinnati Opera on June 18, soprano Kathryn Lewek fit the bill spectacularly with vocal intensity and blazing high notes. She delivered a searing performance, singing with unflagging fervor all the way through her final, lurid moments of necrophilia with the severed head. The audience in Music Hall for the season opener on June 18 was riveted from beginning to end by the production staged by Jose Maria Condemi and conducted by Robert Spano.
“Salome” was last produced by the company in 2000 under then-artistic director Nic Muni. More than 120 years after its premiere, Richard Strauss’ opera “Salome” is still a shocker. The biblical story — which refers to Salome not by name but as the daughter of Herodias — may be found in the New Testament. Jochanaan, the prophet known as John the Baptist, was a prisoner of Herod, the tetrarch of Judea and Salome’s stepfather. It was Oscar Wilde who embellished the story, and Strauss based his 1905 opera on Wilde’s play. Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the play forms the libretto, with judicious trims made by Strauss.
The production was from San Diego Opera, which was also staged by Condemi, now a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. A single, modernist scenic design (Tim Wallace) served the one-act opera. The palace terrace consisted of large stone pillars and an expansive ramp with steps going down to the floor where the cistern lay. A large, full moon loomed over the proceedings, and Thomas C. Hase’s effective lighting design followed the drama, sometimes bathing the entire stage in blood red. Lavish costumes (Anita Yavich) fit the period.
An exceptional cast told the story. It was Lewek’s second role debut with Cincinnati Opera’s summer festival after making an impressive debut singing Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” last year.
Lewek, as Salome, dashed impetuously onstage (coming from Herod’s banquet), and instantly became infatuated with the prisoner in the cistern, Jochanaan. She sang with a voice of beauty throughout her range, easily making Strauss’ difficult vocal leaps and tackling the lower register with clarity. She poured out her feelings in long, rapturous streams of love for Jochanaan’s skin, his hair, his lips, eventually crawling on her belly to grovel at his feet.Read More »
The finale of Atlanta Opera’s “Twilight Of The Gods,” with Lise Lindstrom as Brünnhilde/ production photos were provided by Atlanta Opera
Last weekend, the Music Critics Association of North America held its annual meeting in Atlanta, GA, with host partners the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra,Atlanta Opera and the Alliance Theatre. The stars aligned so that we were able to see performances by each organization. (Stay tuned for further impressions about each.) In addition, there were some wonderful exhibitions at the High Museum of Art. You may not think of Atlanta as being especially arts-centric. But I was impressed by the high-caliber performances, the strong donor support and the diverse audiences, all illustrating how important the arts have become in this Southern city.
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, ca. 2007, is Atlanta Opera’s current home.
One of the most striking examples of this is the Atlanta Opera, under the leadership of Israeli-born General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun for the past 13 years. (Cincinnati Opera audiences have seen two operas with Zvulun’s staging in recent years: last year’s “Rigoletto” and Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” in 2018.) He spoke to our group before we trekked to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, the company’s home about 10 miles from Midtown Atlanta.
The current “Ring” Cycle — Wagner’s epic masterpiece of four operas, “Das Rheingold,” “Die Walküre,” “Siegfried” and “Götterdämmerung” — was staged, one by one, starting in 2023. The completion of “Götterdämmerung” — “Twilight of the Gods” — marked the American Southeast’s first fully staged production of the “Ring.”
Zvulun dedicated the work to his mentor, the late Speight Jenkins, who, as general director of Seattle Opera, mounted three “Ring” cycles. Zvulun has used technology to keep down costs. His productions have benefited from an 80 foot by 40 foot LED wall. The overall concept as well as the projections for “Götterdämmerung” were simply breathtaking.
The scenic and projection design by Erhard Rom featured Brutalist architecture for the court of the Gibichungs, befitting a Fascist-like regime. Its walls stretched into infinity so seamlessly, that it was impossible to tell where the projections began beyond the pillars of the set.
Indeed, the visual elements left the viewer with indelible impressions. Act III opened on a magical setting in an emerald green forest by the Rhine as the Rhinemaidens cavorted (Gretchen Krupp, Flosshilde; Cadie J. Bryan, Woglinde; and Alexandra Razskazoff, Wellgunde). The ship sailed up the Rhine, images of Wotan gazed from the clouds and Siegfried’s funeral pyre grew to a full-blown catastrophe. Brünnhilde’s horse, Grane, could be seen in the flames before the ex-Valkyrie joined, along with the Ring on her finger, and Valhalla came crashing down.
Zvulun’s staging was natural, effective and allowed the drama to unfold clearly. I was struck by how he’d leave a character – Brünnhilde, Gutrune and especially Hagen – onstage with backs turned, frozen, staring out into the Rhine, waiting, watching, or in Hagen’s case perhaps, conniving, as a scene progressed. In this way, it became very much a psychological drama, even a thriller. The forces were always there.Read More »
Nola Richardson as Hildegard during the premiere of “Hildegard” (Photo by Maria Baranova, provided by MCANA)
The opera “Hildegard,” by American composer Sarah Kirkland Snider has received the 2026 Award for Best New Opera by the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA). Award Committee member Arthur Kaptainis presented the award to Snider on June 6 in Atlanta at MCANA’s annual meeting (hosted by the Atlanta Symphony and Atlanta Opera). She wrote both the music and the libretto.
The award honors musical and theatrical excellence in a fully staged opera that received its world premiere in North America during the preceding calendar year.
The opera, based on the life of the 12th-century German abbess Hildegard von Bingen, was partly developed in Cincinnati at an Opera Fusion: New Works workshop in 2024, the composer told me. She spoke to MCANA members about how, not knowing anything about the 12th-century abbess, she became captivated by Hildegard’s story after reading Oliver Sacks’ book, “Migraine,” where he posed the theory that Hildegard’s reported visions were caused by migraines. As a sufferer of migraines, it struck a chord with Snider, who began a deep dive into Hildegard’s life and her music.
Award Committee member Arthur Kaptainis spoke with composer Sarah Kirkland Snider about her opera, “Hildegard.”
Snider said it was “easily the most daunting artistic undertaking of my life,” and its composition and development took about 10 years. She is described as “one of new music’s leading names” (Gramophone), one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” (The Washington Post), and “a rising star on the American compositional scene” (The Wall Street Journal).
This year’s Awards Committee was co-chaired by Heidi Waleson (opera critic of The Wall Street Journal) and George Loomis (longtime contributor to the Financial Times and Musical America)—alongside committee members Arthur Kaptainis (contributor to Ludwig van Toronto and former music critic of the Montreal Gazette),John Rockwell (former critic and arts editor of The New York Times and a regular correspondent for Opera (UK) and Musical America), and Alex Ross (music critic of The New Yorker).
In praise of “Hildegard,” the committee wrote: “This compelling work of historical fiction explores the life and mind of the 12th century Benedictine abbess, visionary, and composer Hildegard von Bingen. Snider’s well-crafted libretto sets the action at a biographical turning point in 1147, when Hildegard’s transcribed visions were submitted to the pope, who would declare her to be either a prophet or a heretic.
“This complex heroine, who stands up to the power of the church and is disturbed by the nature of her feelings for a young novice, is captured in Snider’s distinctive, haunting music which reaches its apogee in the brilliantly explosive visions. Remarkable timbral variety belies the small size of the accompanying ensemble, and throughout, the opera’s musical radiance illuminates Hildegard’s visceral connection with the divine.”
The two-act chamber opera was commissioned byBeth Morrison Projects and theAspen Music Festival, and premiered byLos Angeles OperaandPrototype Festival in New York City, to rapturous reviews. “Hildegard”will have a semi-staged performance at the Aspen Music Festival this summer, at Harris Concert Hall on July 31. Future performances are being planned in the United States and Europe, as is a studio recording.
The Best New Opera Award reflects the overarching mission of MCANA to recognize distinctive achievements and, through its web publicationClassical Voice North America, to communicate the richness of musical life in the U.S. and Canada at a time when classical music coverage in traditional print media is shrinking.
“Hildegard” is the ninth such award bestowed by MCANA, whose members submit the nominations.
A public performance of excerpts from “Hildegard” took place on Oct. 10, 2024 in Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio. That’s because Cincinnati has become one of the leaders of developing new opera in America. Opera Fusion: New Works is a collaboration of Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
For four cycles, the program was funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. When the grant ran out, a devoted Cincinnati patron stepped up to underwrite Opera Fusion: New Works, which is now funded by an anonymous donation, said Cincinnati Opera Artistic Director Evans Mirageas.
“We’re coming to the end of the first full year of a three-year cycle of Opera Fusion, funded by a single donor. We’re just incredibly grateful to that person,” Mirageas said.
“It’s unheard of in the history of philanthropy for a grant to be renewed four times,” he said, referring to the Mellon Foundation’s generosity. “What it did is it helped us build the repertoire of other companies. (Opera Fusion primarily workshops new opera for other companies.) But more importantly, locally, it built an audience, because we started getting sellout houses, as it were, for the presentations (of excerpts) at the end of workshops.”
Stephen Hough joined Roderick Cox and the CSO in Beethoven. Photos by JP Leong.
If you ever doubted the power and majesty of Beethoven, pianist Stephen Hough puts those thoughts to rest with his brilliant performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on May 8 in Music Hall.
The British pianist joined returning guest conductor Roderick Cox for the CSO’s season finale that, besides the “Emperor,” included Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and an upbeat opener by Jennifer Higdon, “Fanfare Ritmico.” Whether because of these fine artists or the crowd-pleasing repertoire on the program, a large audience attended the Friday morning concert, and a sellout was expected on Saturday night.
Hough has visited Cincinnati a number of times, including a memorable recital for the Xavier Piano Series in 2021 during his 60th birthday tour, when he performed one of his own compositions. The pianist is regarded by media such as the Economist and the BBC as a “polymath,” with a distinguished concert and recording career of more than four decades, as well as success as a writer and a composer. Among his many accomplishments, he was the first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, and was awarded a Knighthood for Services to Music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2022. He is now Sir Stephen Hough.Read More »
